Barratt close to securing debt deal July 10, 2008 Housebuilder Barratt Developments is today expected to reveal it has managed to renegotiate a refinancing package with its bankers. Barratt, which has £1.7bn debt and a market capitalisation of just £140m, has been negotiating with lenders to extend repayment of £400m debt due in April , as well as agree changes to its debt covenants [...]
CITY A.M. Shadow MPC votes for hold July 10, 2008 Once again City A.M.’s shadow MPC Committee has unanimously agreed to keep interest rates on hold at 5 per cent. It is the second month in a row the committee has been in agreement as all believe the MPC’s concern over rising prices will trump the slowdown in growth. This month the committee has a [...]
Consumers gloomier July 10, 2008 Consumer confidence fell for the sixth month in a row in June as the economic outlook continued to darken, although Britons showed little sign of curbing their spending. The Nationwide consumer confidence index hit an all time low last month, falling four points to 61 – the worst figure since the survey began in May [...]
Sorrell goes on war path over TNS bid July 10, 2008 German rival GfK says it will trump the £1.08bn offer from advertising giant WPP WPP yesterday launched a £1.08bn hostile bid for market research firm TNS, dismissing competing takeover plans from rival GfK as “flaky”. In a day of drama in the City, TNS and GfK withdrew their proposal for a friendly tie up after [...]
Fed bail-out move halts market slide July 9, 2008 Ben Bernanke says Fed may continue emergency lending scheme into next year Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke’s announcement last night that he is considering extending its emergency cash lending system for investment banks into next year rescued plunging markets in London and the US. But economists warned that the move signalled that the fall out [...]
Goodbye to carrots: the stick is back July 9, 2008 Businesses are going to find new ways to motivate staff, says Jeremy Hazlehurst The City’s bonus culture has come in for a lot of criticism recently. The Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King said that he found the idea of massive bonuses “unattractive”, while Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, also said [...]
Arsenal’s Hleb refutes rant at team-mate and manager July 9, 2008 Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb last night attempted to build bridges with the club by denying reports he had launched a verbal attack on his manager and team-mates. Hleb, whose expected move to Barcelona has failed to materialise, was yesterday claimed to have criticised midfielder Cesc Fabregas and Gunners boss Arsene Wenger. The Belarus international moved [...]
Lampard and Drogba will stay at Chelsea, says ‘So-So One’ Scolari July 9, 2008 Luiz Felipe Scolari yesterday announced his arrival as Chelsea manager by insisting that, contrary to expectation, midfielder Frank Lampard and striker Didier Drogba would not be departing the club. Lampard is the subject of a renewed £7.9m bid by Inter Milan and is yet to commit his future to Chelsea, but, speaking in his first [...]
England will need to up their game to tame in-form South Africa July 9, 2008 After twice taking on and comfortably beating what is a transitional New Zealand side, England will undoubtedly go into tomorrow’s first Test against South Africa confident of continuing their encouraging run. But one thing’s for certain, they’re going to have to step up their game because these South Africans will provide a much sterner test. [...]
G8 in climate dispute with poor states July 9, 2008 Big emerging economies will come under pressure today to respond to an initiative by rich countries to work towards a target of at least halving their global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Group of Eight (G8) industrial nations want the leaders of eight fast growing countries to adopt a “shared vision” of tackling global [...]
